


Cultural Exchange

by coffeeincluded



Series: The Beasts Within [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Back to my AU that's right people, Ballroom Dancing, Daemons, Dancing, F/F, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeeincluded/pseuds/coffeeincluded
Summary: Petra shows Dorothea one of the dances of her homeland.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary
Series: The Beasts Within [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543501
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	Cultural Exchange

**Author's Note:**

> For the Felannie Fever Discord prompt: “It’s time to dance”: write 200-500 words about dancing, going to a dance, asking someone to dance, learning/teaching dance, balls, festivals, dance competitions etc (as long as the etc is reasonably within the bounds of dance/dance related activities)
> 
> Maybe it's because I'm exhausted, maybe it's trying to condense it into 500 words, but I had a much harder time with this than I envisioned. Sorry people! Still, here's a cute little scene of Dorothea and Petra dancing together during the ball! I really love these two. I hope you all enjoy!

The noble balls portrayed in operas truly were a mere fascimile of reality. For one, those scenes tended to last several minutes instead of several hours. Dorothea was learning the hard way that even she could get bored by several hours of gentle music, slow dancing, and Seteth playing interference. Sylvain had already bailed, probably to get disgustingly drunk and laid. Bernie had put in her time and quickly retreated to the safety of her room. Hubie was nowhere to be seen. And...

“There’s Petra,” Calphour said, indicating the young woman. She was with Claude, who had made it his mission to offer a dance to every single man or woman in sight during the ball. Simurg was wrapped tightly around his arm, while Ardior waddled by Petra’s side. Dorothea felt bad for the snow goose daemon—too large to perch on Petra like Calphour, and as graceless on land as he was graceful in water. And despite Claude’s best efforts Petra also looked out of place, stilted and restrained by the chains of noble “dances” instead of her normal intense and free self.

Calphour was the one to rescue her, landing on Ardior’s head to startle them both. Claude winked at Petra and turned on his heel towards…Byleth.

Well, that was the professor’s problem to deal with. “Don’t feel bad. This type of dance is for stuck-up nobles,” she said, jabbing a finger at a certain Ferdinand von Aegir who was, indeed, moving perfectly to the slow dance.

Petra chuckled. “I thought you had been…were making peace with Ferdinand?”

“Yes, but he’s so much fun to tease.” Calphour smirked, an impressive feat since he was a tiny songbird.

“So, Petra, you said you would show me more Brigidian dances?” If they were anything like the ones from the start of the year…

“I would be liking that greatly!”

They slipped outside, their daemons stretching their wings, dancing together in the cold night air. Petra took Dorothea by the hand and—

—Oh. Oh, now _this_ was a dance. Conscious thought slipped away as Dorothea surrendered to the instinct of her feet and body, struggled to keep up with the rapid sensual rhythm that Petra set. The heat of their bodies quickly warmed up the night. There was no music; they didn’t need any. When it was done, Dorothea and Petra were inches from each other, their faces flushed and grinning, their fingertips brushing. Ardior gently landed, Calphour perched on his head like he belonged there.

“Thank you for sharing that with me.”

Petra simply smiled. “You are having my gratitude, Dorothea. Dancing with you has helped me feel that I am being…that I am closer to home.”

Did she dare? In the space of a heartbeat, Dorothea brought her hand forward, her fingers to slip between Petra’s. Calphour nestled into Ardior’s feathers. “Petra, I would like to see more of your dances from home some day.”

A squeeze of the hand in return. “That would be giving me great joy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes this is a little spoiler-free flash-forward in my AU. Speaking of which I'm about half-done with the next chapter; I just have a _horrific_ work schedule this month, to the point where I'm having trouble finding time to go food shopping, much less work on fanfic. Still, update should be within the next few days!
> 
> I'm so sorry about the quality of this. I'll probably massively revise it later when I'm less exhausted.
> 
> Oh, for those who don't know, Dorothea's daemon is Calphour, a goldcrest (a tiny songbird). Petra's daemon is Ardior, a snow goose.


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